Chris took them to the last room to the left and opened the door. “Get some rest. I'll take you to the hall in the evening. And this time, we’re going to tell you what’s really happening.” 

His retreating words resonated in Destiny’s mind. What was really happening had to be something dangerous. Otherwise they wouldn’t be here, in the middle of nowhere, with a squad called ‘The Sequinned Potential'. 

Cara plopped on the bed, stretching her arms and legs. She pulled Destiny with her and together they just laid there, completely still, waiting for sleep to engulf them. They hadn’t eaten anything since morning; neither breakfast nor lunch. But food was the last thing on their minds now. They knew something very dreadful was going on. And it was more dreadful because they were involved in it. 

Sleep came like a silent whisper and Destiny found herself waking up from a peaceful dream. It was almost evening. She sat up on the bed and looked around. She hadn’t completely seen the room that was allotted to them. 

The whole room was painted in white. The walls were plain signifying spaciousness and profound continuity. The room looked bigger than it actually was, as it was painted with a single colour. The bed was at the centre, a table just beside it and there was a big cupboard made of pure mahogany wood, polished and shiny. The furniture was made of wood with smooth surfaces, the walls were decorated with a few paintings and wall-hangings. 

But the room looked very recently painted as if it was readied just for them. Destiny shook off the relentless thoughts in her mind and silently sat beside a sleeping Cara. 

The knock on the door woke Cara up and she saw Destiny going towards the door to open it. “Cara, get ready. I think Chris is here to take us to the hall.” 

Chris was smiling hard when she opened the door and for a split second, she noticed his smile fading a little bit upon seeing her? Was he expecting Cara to open it? She chuckled and faced him with a serious expression. 

“Ah, are you both ready—” 

“No, Chris. We aren’t ready yet. We'll be ready in five minutes. Can you please wait here?” 

“Of course.” The boy smiled again. 

He loves to smile for sure, Destiny thought and hurried to get ready. Both the sisters occupied the washroom and adjusted their clothes. They hadn’t brought their clothes with them and it was almost six hours they didn’t talk to their mothers. Destiny hoped her mother and aunty were okay. 

After adjusting their hair and washing their face, Destiny and Cara followed Chris. He took them to an elevator and took them to the third floor. Before them was a huge wooden door and when he opened it, they saw a big hall. There were almost a hundred people inside and still it looked spacious enough to accommodate a hundred more. 

“Welcome, Destiny and Cara.” An old woman greeted them. 

Her dark hair was pulled up in a tight bun, she wore a black pencil skirt with a green blouse and she looked glamorous. “I'm glad you’re a part of this squad now. I'm Evangeline Williams.” 

“We don’t understand anything.” Destiny said, looking hopefully at Evangeline.

“I know. First, let me introduce you to my best warriors,” the old woman chirped. “Seth Taylor, the leader of this squad.” Seth came forward and stood beside her. 

“Christopher Selwig, the warrior in charge after Seth,” Chris just smiled and nodded his head at her. “Scarlet Wallace and Lily Allen, our superwomen.” 

And as Evangeline moved, two beautiful women came into vision. The one had flaming red hair and a pair of grey eyes while another one was taller, thinner and had platinum blonde hair. 

The redhead came forward and shook hands with Destiny. “Hi guys.” She gave a sweet smile to Cara. “I’m Lily.” 

The other one, presumably, Scarlet came towards them and smirked. “We have a lot of hope about you two.” 

Destiny and Cara became all the more confused. And like a saviour, Evangeline asked them to sit and promised to tell them everything. The crowd dispersed leaving only them, Evangeline and the four best warriors in the hall.

“You both have special powers. Destiny, you are extremely alert and flexible. While Cara, you have The Vision,” Evangeline stopped. “you can see things or energies others can’t.” Both of them nodded. 

“You both have extraordinary fathers and you've inherited their powers.” 

Destiny's heart seemed to flip out of her chest and she felt Cara tensing after hearing her father's name. It couldn’t be true that their fathers were not ordinary, otherwise their mothers would’ve told them. 

“Our mothers never mentioned this,” 

“They didn’t know, Destiny. Being a part of The Sequinned Potential calls for supreme confidentiality. No one should know about this.” Evangeline began to walk towards them. 

“The Sequinned Potential was formed by me and my late husband, David. We started this thirty years ago to assemble those people who were different, those who had powers. We wanted them to join this force, to learn to control their powers and instincts and use them to protect this environment.” 

“My husband was a occultist. He had knowledge about different realms in the universe. Even the dark ones. And when started to sense evil energies trying to penetrate the human realm, he decided to dedicate his life to the research and study of mystic arts and occultism.” 

Cara started shaking and just in time, Destiny clutched her hand tightly to show that was she was here with her, always. 

“After ten years of research, he developed a special gift. He was a clairvoyant, similar to Cara. The only difference was that he could see the past and the future.” Evangeline signalled to Seth and he brought a green and presented it to her. 

“I was always there with him. And with practice, I could perform spells from ancient mystic spell books. Together, we became powerful and determined to save the human world from negative forces.” She stopped and then looked at the stone. “This stone was energised by me with a spell that enhances our powers and makes us invincible.” 

The stone was dull. And that made Destiny curious. Wasn’t a powerful stone supposed to glow? 

Before she could voice her question, Evangeline smiled. “Yes, Destiny. Such a powerful stone indeed has a blinding glow. This isn’t the real one. It’s a copy.” 

“What happened with the green stone? And how did you form this squad?” Cara shot a barrage of questions to her. 

The old woman scrunched her nose in displeasure. “When we decided to protect the human world, we needed a safe place. It was when we discovered this realm: Meyercliffe. It was beyond the human world and was only to be reached when one portals through a point where sunlight converges.” 

“Are there other realms as well?” Destiny questioned with wonder. 

“Yes, there are numerous realms, some are harmonious, some aren’t. Portals can only be accessed where light converges. You'll just have to have the intention of where you want to go.” 

When Destiny nodded, Evangeline continued. “We reached Meyercliffe and it was the most harmonious realm. David was right, there wasn’t any human civilization here. There were brings who lived in this keep. Through his clairvoyance, David could see and communicate with them.” 

“What beings?” Cara felt her bones stiffening in an unusual way. 

“Beings of the air, the sun and the water. They are invisible. They maintain these three major aspects of nature : air, sunlight and water. There are a hundred of them as per David.” 

“Are they still here?” 

“Yes, Cara. But no one here can see them. Except you, maybe you can try sometime.” Hearing her words, Cara grappled with her hands. 

Destiny was silent and calm. “What happened next?” 

“Those beings communicated with David and gave them information, whereas I started enhancing my own powers. One day, he saw something; a future where the humankind was getting destroyed by a powerful force, the darkest wizard of all times: Elias.” 

“I exited Meyercliffe and started finding more people like us, to help us in the fight against Elias and his people.” 

“People?” Cara listened, wide-eyed. 

“All creatures at his disposal are vicious,” Evangeline's face grew grim. “demons, dark witches and wizards, devils, evil spirits and so many creatures we don’t know about yet.” 

Destiny’s whole body shook. “Then did you find someone like you both?” 

“I did. I found Evan Stevens and Andrew Johnson. Together with them, me and David came to be known as The Sequinned Potential.” 

Destiny felt as if the whole world just collapsed. She never knew her father. When she was five years old, he presumably died and she never saw him in person. Her mother didn’t even mention him that much except to tell her that he was a nice, young man with a good job. 

Beside her, Cara was getting more tensed by the minute. She was in her mother’s womb when her father walked out on her mother. It'd been a pathetic thing. The person she thought was the most vicious human being was in some kind of a squad that defeated evil? 

That can’t be. 

“I don’t believe this.” Cara whispered in a barely audible voice. 

But Destiny knew better. She somehow knew Evangeline wasn’t lying and that this whole Sequinned Potential thing wasn’t a scam. It was real; more real than life itself. 

“It’s true. It was when Elias became more powerful and invaded Meyercliffe, we fought back with equal vigour. We all used our respective powers while the real crystal enhanced our power.” The old woman looked at the copy of the green crystal in her hands. 

“Your fathers died. David died. Somehow, I escaped. Elias thought I wasn’t alive. And he destroyed Meyercliffe. I saw the ruins but this keep, this was still standing. I immediately asked for guidance to the beings. Though I couldn’t see them, with practice, I could communicate with them. They gave me a ball of light and they told me to keep it safe in a locker. All our luminosas are made from a little fragment of the light that the ball is made of. It never ends. It continuously shines.” 

“I decided to form The Sequinned Potential again and this time, with more people. It took me years to find all of you. A hundred of you.” She was almost in tears. “With the help of the ball of light, I changed the location of Meyercliffe and the green crystal helped me to strengthen our portals so that no evil could invade it again.” 

All the while, Destiny noticed Seth, Chris, Scarlet and Lily standing in a line in complete silence. Their hands were at the back and their heads were down. 

“A few days ago, the real green crystal was stolen. It was what made this squad invincible. Without that, the ball of light is getting duller by the minute. And if the ball of light becomes completely dark, Meyercliffe's location will be compromised and the portals will fall weak. And so will our luminosas.” She gave the fake crystal to Seth and took out her own luminosa. 

“These glow-sticks are assigned to each one of us. They are made from the ball of light given to me by the beings of Meyercliffe. They guide us and help us nurture our powers.” 

Destiny and Cara listened to everything. While Cara fell restlessly silent, Destiny felt her body getting heavier; it was as if a burden of new information was unloaded on her shoulders and to be honest, everything was too hard to believe. 

“We needed new warriors that’s why I sent Chris to bring you two here. I sensed that you both were different, just like the rest of us here. You've inherited the powers of your fathers.” 

Evangeline smiled, pressing her lips tightly. “That’s enough for today. Seth,” she looked at him and gave him a credit card. “send someone to buy some clothes for Destiny and Cara. They didn’t get time to pack.” 

The old woman then marched out of the hall with an air of acute confidence. Destiny laid back on the chair, slumping her shoulders. And Cara just kept on looking here and there. 

“I know it’s hard and it seems like a lot to take in, but don’t worry, it will pass.” Scarlet said, coming towards them. 

Scarlet was an extreme example of boldness. Her platinum blonde hair was curled up on her shoulders, her tight black leather jumpsuit was hugging her slim figure. She had an oval countenance with deep smouldering eyes and red lips. 

“I'm Scarlet. I am a member of this squad. I'm an illusionist. I can make people see and hear what I want them to.” She winked her eyes. 

Destiny stood up and took her hands in a friendly handshake. “I'm Destiny. It’s nice to meet you all.” 

“Let’s go, Scar. We're getting late.” Lily pulled her hand and they exited the hall.

Cara found herself getting sick. “Des, I'm not feeling well.” 

“Let me take you to your room.” Chris caught her hand and slowly guided her through the twisted pathways of the keep. 

Destiny watched Seth closely. He was good-looking. But in that black, fitting jacket, he was beautiful. Not merely handsome or attractive the way one appears in person or in photographs; not ruggedly lovely in some stark, masculine way, like dangerous mountain peaks.

Though he was decidedly, inarguably male, he was just simply beautiful. 

“Destiny, you should also go to your room. You two haven’t eaten anything from the morning. I'll send some food to your room. Go and rest.” He said politely, carefully looking at her with his guarded eyes.   

They were the colour of the dry autumnal leaves and tree barks. They were the colour of the earth after torrential rains. There was nothing guarded or safe about that colour; there was a wildness about it, a deep, aching sensation that she felt in herself, like a restless wind. 

She dusted off the thoughts from her mind and with one last glance at him, she retraced her steps back to her room. She found Cara sleeping soundly on the soft mattress of the bed. And as he'd promised, soon a lady delivered two bowls of hot soup and fried chicken nuggets to their room. 

Destiny woke Cara up and made her eat the food. Cara slept again after sometime. It was natural that she was tired. But despite being fatigued, sleep was far from Destiny’s eyes. It was hard for her to even breathe. They didn’t bring their cell phones and she really missed her mother and aunt; were they worried about their location? 

Destiny hoped not. She decided she would call them anyhow tomorrow. They needed to know the truth. She ate a spoonful of soup and decided to lie down beside Cara. 

Sleep wasn’t planning on coming to her so she counted to ten and then felt her eyes closing. Tomorrow will be a good day, she hoped as all sense rushed out of her and she fell into a deep slumber.